Marko Milosevic says not allowed Belgrade funeral

MOSCOW, Mar 14 (Reuters) The family of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic have not been allowed to bury him in Belgrade and instead want the funeral to take place in Moscow, his son told Reuters television today.

''The Belgrade authorities do not allow it, they want to avoid it (a Milosevic funeral). They threaten in official and unofficial ways. We do not have any other choice,'' Marko Milosevic said at a Moscow airport before flying to the Netherlands to collect his father's body.

''As far as I know Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov agreed yesterday (to allow the funeral) and tomorrow we will ask (the Russian) authorities.'' He had yesterday said the family wanted the funeral in Belgrade but might ask for a temporary burial in Moscow if Serbian authorities failed to guarantee the safety of his mother Mira Markovic, who fled Serbia and corruption charges in 2003.

Belgrade's District Court was expected to decide today whether an arrest warrant for Markovic should be withdrawn so she could attend the funeral without risking arrest.

Milosevic died in prison just months before a verdict was expected in his war crimes trial. His lawyer said he had feared he was being poisoned with the wrong drugs in a bid to silence him.

A Dutch expert said he believed the 64-year-old, faced with a possible life sentence if convicted, had knowingly taken harmful medicines to improve his case for going for treatment to Russia, where his wife, son and brother all live.

REUTERS CS KP1206